Nut lock



R. L. COCHRANE.

NUT LOCK.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 29, 1921. AQVJIQQ. Patented Aug. 29, R922.

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COMPANY, 0F NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, CORPORATN 0F 'NEW JERSEY',

nur Loon.

noemen,

Continuation of-applicationnerial No. 464,676, led April 26, 1921.

Serial No. 5155,627.

To all 'whom it may concern.' l

Be it knownv that I, ROBERT L CooHRANr.,

'acitizen yof the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Nut Locks, of which the followingfis a specification.

This invention pertains 'townut locks of the lock washer type, and more particularly to those of the'split spring type,wherein theV resiliency or s prin of the washer is depended upon ".to e ectively resist the force` of compression. The most successful lock washers on the market at the present time consist of Va spiral segment having its end portions and intermediate parts bent, twisted, or displaced. rlhe spiral curvature of thelock washer, when considered as a whole,

The lock washer, or nutllock, formingthe basis of the present application is adapted particularly for use in connection with nail joints, although-it is not necessarily limited to such use. Several forms of the invention are illustrated inthe accompanyin drawings, whereinigure 1 is a plan view of the lock washer;

Figs. 2, 3, and 4 edge or side elevations, asviewed in the directionof the arrows 2, 3, and d, respectively;

Fi 5 a transverse section on the line V of Fig. l; A

Fig. 6 a developmentof the lock washer;

Fig. Z vis a development of a modification; j

Fig. 8 is a development of a further modification; andv v Fig. 9 is a section of a rail joint.v

The body of the lock washer is formed of steel stock, and may be produced in any suitable manner, as, for instance, coiling the stock edgewise about a mandrel and then. cutting it so as to produce lock washers. The several lock washers will, when thus lmade, have aspira] form, but during the course of manufacture such spiral 4formation is eliminated and the body, intermediateits Specification of Letters Patent.

rammen nog. ae, ieee.

This application 'iiled November a9,

ends, is deformed or thrown face-wisenut of its normal line or plane, so as to produce a series of inter-connected,l reversely-directed or reversely curved sections, with the ends inclined in opposite directions.

Toillustrate the action of the lock washer, l have shown a rail joint in Fi 9, consistin of the rail R, joint bars bolt B, nut and lock washer or nut lock W.

It is recognized that the theoretically perfect rail would be a continiuous one. This condition bein impossible in practice necessitates the la option' of a structure j nonna/r n. cocnnnna, on cmcaeo, immers, assienonf 'ro marioneta noon yvasnnn which approximates as closely as possible' I the theoretical, desired end. When the ends of the rails are vdeflected bythe hea rolling stock passing over the rail joint t ere is l a distinct tendency `to force the joint bars apart, thereby developing high tensile stresses in the bolts. llhis force is developed as a result of the en agement of the joint bars with`the incline under head of the rail and the inclined upper surface ots the base, resulting in' a wedging action. One Vfunction of the nut lock or lock washer is to maintain the bolt normally under considerable tension and to absorb the stresses due to the increased tension ot the bolt when the wheels are passin over the rail joint or jointis subjected to abnormal conditions.

By absorbing this additional load the bolts are prevented from being stressed beyond their elast-ic limit,` the -resiliency .of the washers enabling them to maintain said bolts under high tension after the abnormall load` has been released. Thus, there is included in the bolted joint construction a lock washer or nut lock which, through its highly developed resiliency, adequately opposes the movements referred to. Any movement of the rail ends results in-wear of the several parts of the rail joint, lincluding the rail itself. By reducing this movement to a minimum Ithe wear ot the boltedj'oint arts andthe rail ends is ,re-- duced accor in ly. *The further` function' of theloclr was er is to prevent turning ot the nut on the bolt.

rl`he ends of the nut lock, or lock washer, are designated l and 2 and areinclined, preferably, in reverse directions. llrtgnrnles diete said ends the body of theloclr v'vasher lll@ is sinuous in outline. 'There it thus produced a series ot' interconnected weve-like',

-with reference to e. center linev *as -ll.v

Stated in enotherway, the crests of ythe upper curves preferably lie in one plane and the bottoms or outer faces of the oppositey or lower curves preferably lie in a second plane.

ative member with which the lock Washer coacts. action, in that theyvvorlr together or cooperate in' setting up resistance tothe nut,

which is turned down upon the look Washer. l

Preferably, With a lock Washer of ordinary size, three. crests vvill be present on eech 'fe-ce of the device, said crests, with one of the lock Washer ends, thus producing ic-ur points of contact on each 'face or side of the lool; Washer, but the number of these crests end points oit contact'may be varied to suit the demands of the occasion.

Also, it is not necessary that the points of Contact on either' side of the medial plane should be in the saine piene, since the sinuosity of the interconnected Wave-like elements mey be veried and a high resistance to ycompression still be maintained. Such construction is'shown in 7. Withthis construction, as the nut is tightened' on the bolt, the higher crests ere engaged first, end, after a slight deformation, all off the crests are engaged and thereafter the action of 'all the wave-like elements is synergetic.

T he lock Washer in each case may be said to contain series of short curved portions, each portion being of such a length as to oller a substantial resistance to a. face-Wise applied force, which would tend to straighten or flatten the saine.

'ln the form shown in Fig. 8 the' adjacent ends are substantially opposite each other, instead of being bent away lfrom each other. Yl/Vhile this structure does not engage the opposing surfaces as effectively es the previons structures, it is, nevertheless, suitable *for certain classes ot service.

Lock Washers made in accordance with the disclosure herein have shovvn very great resistance to compression. The steel from 'which the lock Washers are made has been evolved with refe-rence to its. highly developed physical properties, Washers in service, made of special grades of nickelchromium'steel and others of titanium steel,l have shown. excellent results. `Other modern steels may be sus-ed under proper coditions, particulerly` high cerbon steels.' ln actual tests, specimens-oi these lockvvashers were compressed cndreleesed many times Seid planes are denoted in Fig. ,0 as y Il-ll and Ill-HL and, es vvill be seen, they are parallel and represent the bearing. feces of the nut end the underlying cooper- The curves ere synerge'tic in their memes Load in Deflection pounds. in inches. 2000 0.00% 4000 0.008 0000 0.012 8000 0.016 12000 0.0% y lecco cees Assuming, for illustration, thet a given bolt is capable ci withstanding a tensile stress of 40000 pounds and is subjected to this stress in service, l ain to provide a lock Washer capable 'of exerting en equal reaction or pressure Without flattening, and else one which will recover and continue to exert its resistance to compression under lood. This is accomplished with my im roved lock Washer or nut lock. As resu t the reils become practically continuous.-

This application is tiled es e substitute for my pending application Seriell No. 464,076, filed April 20th, i021, for improvements in nut locks.

What l claim is:

l. A spring loclwasher having -in pien the shape of a split ring, the ends of the with the body portion intermediate such ends formed into a series oi? interconnected synergetic curves, the crests of said curves and one end of the body being in one plane on one side of the medial horizontal plane of the washer and the crests of the curves and the end of the Washer on the opposite side of seid medial piene being likewise in one plane, the planes beine; ell parallel.

2. A nut loch comprising e Washer `made of spring motel of the character speci-tied, having in ple'n the shape of e split ring, the ends otD thevvasher being; deflected in opposite direct-ions, end the body portion intermediate such ends formed into a series of interconnected synergistic curves which alternately extend on opposite sides of the medial horizontal plane o the Washer, said curves merging into each other with no intervening washer being deflected in opposite directions lll isc

neem-ee Het portions, the Ximmn cresf portions of seid curves and the end of the Washer on one side of said medial piene and the mexnm crest wrions of seid curves and the end of the washer onthe einer side of seid mediel plane being respectively in xbvvo plaines only which plaines nre perallel to eeen other 'and to'ssid medial plaine. I

3. The oombinefion with s mil joint, cornprising the abutting reil ends, joint rs on opposiie sidesvthereo- @les of high elastic limit metel through seid reil vends and bers, end mms on mid mits, of lock washers beivveen the joint bers end the adjacent nuts, seid lock washers having e circular fo with weve-like bends therein to resist the compression cmi by zigliienin. seid nuts end thepassing of rolling sioe end de ornefml, es specified herein, pable of withstsnw wibhout im# e compressive force grenier than @he elesic limit ofseid bolts ln testimony whereof, ll have subscribed my ne. Y

HUBERT lL. GCHRANE. 

